Mortality Rate Up, Births Down, Shorter Life Expectancy

The number of births in Spain has fallen while the mortality rate hit its highest level since Spain started keeping statistics in the 1970s. Life expectancy has also been reduced.

According to the National Statistics Institute, the number of deaths in 2020 totalled 492,930, up 17.7 per cent from the previous year and average life expectancy in Spain fell by 1.24 years to 82.3 years.

Restrictions on indoor gatherings almost halved the number of weddings from the previous year to 90,416, the data showed and births fell by 5.9 per cent to 339,206, another record low, as couples postponed pregnancies as well as weddings.

“The decrease in the number of births was observed throughout all the months of 2020, although it was accentuated from November. The biggest drop occurred in the month of December, with a reduction of 21.5 per cent compared to the same month in 2019,” the IME said.

“This decrease in births is due, in part, to the decrease in the number of children per woman. But also, to the reduction in the number of women of childbearing age. In particular, a more pronounced drop is observed in the last two months of the year, which may reflect a decrease in pregnancies produced during confinement that begins at mid-March 2020,” it added.

Regarding life expectancy, the INE said, “The increase in mortality caused life expectancy at birth to decrease by 1.24 years in 2020; it stood at 82.34 years. By sex, the decrease was greater in men (life expectancy at birth decreased 1.26 years to 79.60), than in women (with a reduction of 1.15 years, to 85.07). According to the mortality conditions of the moment, a person who reached 65 years in 2020 would expect to live, on average, 18.36 years more if you are a man and 22.33 more if you are a woman.”

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